Freak Show Friday

Sometimes a freaky project doesn’t have to be a freak, but more like a Frankenstein. And being a freak doesn’t mean it’s kludged together, either. Take Joe Albertelli’s ‘64/84 old school/new school Corvette. Confused? Keep reading.
Joe is a racecar builder and also a composites expert, having done numerous projects for John Force, Don Prudhomme, Michael Andretti, and many others at his Advanced Composites Engineering [advancedcompositeseng.com]. He always loved the C2 Corvettes, but we’ll let Joe continue, “The composites technology was very limited back then as was the chassis, it’s not up to my level of expectations as far as weight, stiffness, handling, etc. Coming from an Indy car and F1 background I'm impressed with cars that really perform well all around. Let's face it, anyone with a real ‘64 coupe that's a matching numbers car doesn't want to hurt that thing, never mind drive it like you stole it!”

A friend of Joe’s bought a fire recovery ’64 coupe that he splashed a mold off of to begin his new/old Vette project. He built a 13-part mold that allowed him to make the body from the firewall, back in one piece. He would use the original doors to save time. Since this is a low-buck effort he chose a C4 Vette as the basis for the chassis. Joe felt it was the perfect starting point for the money, and he had plenty of totals in bone yards to pick from. He pitched everything he felt he didn’t need including all of the computer-related components and wiring. As he puts it, “This thing is going to be old school, so I got rid of all of the computer stuff and put it on a big diet.”

He rebuilt a seized ’64 327 with double-hump heads and bored it 0.060 over, Stage II cam, Holley intake with 750 carb, and a dual-point ignition. Remember, this is a NO electronics-build. The serpentine belts and accessories, including the water pump off of the ’84 chassis bolted onto the 327, which helped with the C4 install. A “de-computerized” 700R with a 2500 stall converter was hooked to the block.

Since Joe felt the ’84 dash was “dorky, like Night Rider pseudo-cheesy looking” he designed and built a trick carbon-fiber dash that’s a send up to the C2’s original design.
He designed and molded a front spoiler in a Trans Am-style, and created some side-skirts that have some aero treatments as well as cool looks. He didn't want it to look and feel like a "kit-car”. This looks like a real Vette because it is, and is the best of both worlds—old and new-er. Says Joe, “From my road racing background I know how to make a chassis/car handle. I placed dual batteries in the rear for better weight distribution, and a bunch of other small things as well.” He used a Hot-Wires wiring harness as a starting point for his scratch wiring.

Says Joe, “The idea is to build this car up and do some track days and some speed runs at El Mirage and see what she can do. I’ll take it to shows, and see if there is any interest in building customer cars like it. Since it's a ‘64 body with a ‘64 motor, etc. the idea is to register it as a ‘64 kit car and let customers choose their engine and driveline package, etc.”